


Uprooted

by WolfsongRoar



Category: Danny Phantom, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-08 10:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16427882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfsongRoar/pseuds/WolfsongRoar
Summary: The ghosts have disappeared from Amity Park, much to the confusion of Danny. Unbeatable monsters have started appearing in Norrisville, much to the confusion of Randy. As Danny temporarily moves to Norrisville, Oklahoma, a new hero enters the Ninja's turf, and even the Nomicon doesn't know what to do.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Uprooted! While not my first fic, this will be my first time writing in quite a few years, so I'm probably a bit rusty. If you see anything that I could improve on, please point it out to me! 
> 
> To clarify a few things, this story takes place before the finales of each show. Also, there are a few minor tweaks here and there, such as Norrisville High being a private school. Other than that, the universe is mostly the same. 
> 
> Crossposted from FFN

It had been a slow week for Danny.

The wind pushed his hair back and blasted him with cool air as he sailed, high above the clouds. The golden light of the fading sun causing his ethereal glow to burn even brighter, making him lighter, and he was at one with the heavens. He was free, and nothing could stop him. He looked down, and in an instant decision he plummeted through the clouds so he could see his hometown blurr beneath him.

Usually this time of night, around five or six o'clock, was spent with Sam and Tucker patrolling the town. He had called them earlier, telling them not to bother showing up. It wasn't like anything was going to happen, anyways.

Now, he descended so that he was maybe a hundred feet above the tallest buildings. He marked off familiar locations: Casper High, the Nasty Burger, the mall. He passed them all within minutes, where it could take over 30 minutes to get from one side of Amity to the other by car. The ever-setting sun cast the town in bright orange, drowning out any other color that would normally show.

Even the Box Ghost, who was one of Danny’s more frequent annoyances, hadn't shown up once. It was beginning to worry him, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was able to get enough sleep on school nights seemingly for the first time since he got his ghost powers. There had been instances in the past where ghost numbers had lowered, but it had never gotten this bad. Or good, rather, depending on how you viewed Amity Park’s ghost problem.

As the moon rose, shifting the gold and pink of the sunset to a subdued silver, it became increasingly obvious that this night would be just as uneventful as the rest of the week had been as he had anticipated. Tomorrow would be Friday; Danny doubted that the last day of the week would be any more exciting.

Danny had always noticed that flying was when he felt his best. His worries melted away into nothingness, and the pure liberty that came from it was intoxicating. If he didn’t always have about a thousand things to juggle at one time, he would free fly more often.

As time went on, the flying halfa gradually slowed down as his muscles started to ache and his energy faded after close to two hours of continuous flight. Even though he had improved in endurance over the past year, a few hours was beginning to push it. A flat rooftop caught his eye, so a tired Danny landed. His mind was still numb with the excitement of flight, though his responsibilities started to poke at the back of his mind.

“This report will be ten percent of your quarterly grade people, so by The Name of the Wind, get it done!”

Oh, crud. Mr. Lancer’s report. His mom would kill him if he got an F in that class. There went his perfect night.

Sometimes, Danny wished his secret was out so he didn't have to put up with schoolwork and ghost fighting. He supposed, though, since there weren't any ghosts to fight he didn't have anything better to do (besides for playing Doom, but he knew not doing the report would come back to bite him). Moderately rested after a few minutes and sobered, Danny embraced the air once again, though it didn’t carry the same feeling of freedom.

Danny was in no hurry to get back to his daily life and abandon the one he had made in the sky, but he made it to Fenton Works in a reasonable amount of time. He went intangible and phased through the window, into his bedroom before calling upon the familiar rings of light to make him human again. He wasn't sure he'd ever be used to the sudden warmth and the irregular thumping of his heart restarting every time he transformed back. The change in temperature was only amplified by the stark contrast of the cold wind of the sky and the well-heated apartment.

Danny ran his hand through his now messy hair - flying at high speeds tended to do that to it - and walked downstairs into the living room. Within a few moments he was standing in the dining room, unsure what he was seeing. Jazz abruptly stopped babbling on about something or other, the subject more than likely something psychology-related Danny didn't care to understand.

The first thing that caught his attention was how his family were gathered around the table. Normally, Jazz would make something, leave it out, and they would eat on their own schedules as Danny was usually out of the house and his parent in their lab. Something seemed to be going on.

“Dann-o!” The bulky man known as Jack Fenton called before slamming his fists down on the table in excitement. The sudden movement caused some crumbs that had gathered under his chin to go tumbling down his orange jumpsuit. Jack’s face lit up, making Danny assume they had been waiting on him to talk about something. “You're up, and just in time to hear about our trip!” He had assumed correctly.

Maddie Fenton smiled at her son, her mask and goggles off so her red hair was visible. “How was your nap, sweetie?” She asked with a sweet smile. Nap? He hadn't taken a nap, he had been...

Out of the corner of his eye, Jazz dragged her finger across her throat as to gesture for him to not say anything. It appeared his sister had covered for him once again. His ragged hair helped her lie, closely resembling bedhead, and he was once again amazed at how she knew exactly what to do.

“Oh, yeah. It was, er, nice I guess.” Smooth. Danny decided to not get anything to eat.

Danny poured himself a glass of water from a plastic pitcher that was sitting in the middle of the table. “You said something about a trip?” He asked, and his mother smiled and nodded her head in response.

“Well, as you may have known, we've noticed a decreased level of ghost activity recently,” Maddie started, soon placing her arms on the table and wringing her fingers together. “We haven't detected any of the usual powerful ecto-signatures in days, except for Phantom’s.” Danny almost winced at the pure venom in her voice.

“Anyhow, we think we know where they've gone,” his mother continued, all the malice directed at Phantom melting away in an instant. “Instead of going back to the Ghost Zone like we originally thought, it turns out that they have actually migrated, in a sense.”

Danny pondered this for a second while staring up at the ceiling. It made sense; the ghosts wouldn't simply abandon the earthly realm for no good reason. What didn't add up, though, was how they were sustaining themselves and why they migrated. The only other stable portal to the Ghost Zone they knew of was the one in Vlad’s mansion, and Danny was certain that if the ghosts were there his parents would've mentioned it already.

His train of thought was interrupted by a booming voice that, after 15 years, he was used to.

“We're going to Oklahoma!” Jack shouted, all too enthusiastic. The sip of water that Danny had taken would've sprayed across the table had he not caught himself. Trying not to cough, Danny swallowed. Jazz lightly gasped to the right of him.

“We’re going where now?” The halfa stammered, trying to sound as polite as possible despite his surprise. He would have expected they went to somewhere about an hour away, not ten!

His mother smiled at him and grasped one of Jack’s oversized hands with one of hers. “Well, if all the ghosts have left our town, in order to continue our research, we have to follow them. It's going to be a wonderful learning experience for both of you.” Maddie’s smile spread across her face, her excitement not only evident in her words, but in her facial expression and the confident way she sat.

Danny, however, was not the slightest bit happy. “Exactly how long are we, uh, staying?”

“Only a few months, depending on whether the ghosts decide to return to Amity Park.”

“A few months?!” Jazz, who had been relatively quiet as soon as the trip was mention, dropped her fork. “What about school? I'm not going to be able to get into college if I miss the last couple months!” Of course that’s what she was worried about. School.

Jack, not Maddie, was the one to respond. “We've got you kiddos signed up for a temporary position in one of Norrisville’s private schools. It’s the best in the state!” Jazz chewed the inside of her cheek, most likely deep in thought.

Maddie put her fork down, finished with her meal. “We can discuss what you're doing more on the ride up. We plan to leave Sunday afternoon, so you should have plenty of time to pack.”

Looks like Danny wouldn't have to worry about Mr. Lancer’s report after all.

* * *

To say Randy was beginning to freak out would be an understatement.

Hundreds of new monsters (or robots, he had no honkin’ clue what they were!) had shown up in the last few days, constantly attacking Norrisville High, constantly making Randy take bathroom breaks to beat them.

The thing was, he couldn't beat them.

It made no sense! When Randy showed up, half the time they disappeared right in front of his eyes. The group that disappeared, while confusing, weren't nearly as troubling as the other half who decided to take out their frustrations on the Ninja. They made him look like a total shoob in front of absolutely everyone and he couldn't even do anything to retaliate, because he wasn't able to touch them! His hand, or sword, or sai, or - you get the point - would just slip through them like they weren't even there. Except they were there, as evidenced by the total destruction they brought. And they could touch him.

Right now, though, his stress hardly showed as he doodled crude images of himself as the Ninja punching various monsters in the face on a worksheet handed out by Mrs. Driscoll. Not the new monsters, though, he was drawing the ones he actually knew how to defeat. Howard looked over his shoulder probably looking for answers, snorted at the bad drawings, then settled back into his seat.

A booming explosion echoed from somewhere in the school.

Randy jolted from his doodling, causing Howard looked at him funny. “What is it, Cunningham?” He guessed that his friend hadn’t heard whatever it was making noise.

“I heard an explosion. I'm gonna go check it out.” After the Best Buds incident, Randy had been able to hear things the other kids couldn't, even while not wearing his mask. It worked out great since he didn't have to sneak away from his class when they evacuated.

Randy shoved his incomplete worksheet into his bag and exchanged it for the Nomicon and his mask. With his hand raised, he asked for permission to use the bathroom. Mrs. Driscoll frowned, most likely annoyed, but nodded. Randy nearly sprinted out of the room.

After ducking briefly into a janitor’s closet, he reappeared as the Ninja and ran towards the gym - where he guessed the noise was coming from. The scorch marks that lined the hallway coming up to it were a strong pointer, too.

At first, a cool wave of relief washed over him as he looked through the thin windows of the gym doors. Randy was never more excited to see a robot - a regular, touchable, annoying robot. It appeared human-like, but with green flamed hair coming out of its head in a Mohawk. It was a little unusual, but the freshman was used to unusual. He was a ninja who regularly fought his monsterized classmates, after all.

What did startle him, though, was when it talked. The expendable WNDs McFist produced didn't usually talk.

“I really thought the ghost child would have been here by now,” it nearly growled, the robots voice cold and, as one would expect, metallic. Randy expected he was the ‘ghost child,’ since quite a few of the students thought he was an ancient ghost, but it was a little confusing coming from one of McFist’s robots since they knew the Ninja was a student at NHS.

Randy brushed off his confusion. He had a school to protect. He pulled a little red ball out of his belt.

“Smokebomb!” After the cloud of red smoke that appeared in front of it cleared, the robot’s unnaturally green eyes widened for a moment before focusing on him as. “I'm here now!”

It scoffed, to his surprise. “Do you think you're the ghost child?”

“I'm not?” Well, that was embarrassing. A grin appeared on the robot’s face, which was all the answer Randy needed. “Who the juice is, then?”

“Unimportant.” A large laser cannon now extended over its head, attached to a small metal rod that led into its back. The cannon whirred as it charged up with blue light and the sound of the robot’s metal knuckles cracking echoed off the walls.

“Hoh boy.” Randy flipped out of the way just as it fired. The large hole in the floor where he was just standing made him grimace, the heat radiating from the blast pierced his suit. He slightly fidgeted as drew his sword out from the back of his suit and charged. Randy closed his eyes as he neared instinctually, so he wouldn’t get shrapnel in them if it exploded.

“Ninja slice!” The sound of a sword whisking through the air. There was no familiar sound of metal splitting in a clean cut, nor the heat and force of an explosion.

Randy opened his eyes and there was nothing in front of him. His feet hit the ground and he tried to swivel around to see where the robot had gone.

And then came a blinding white flash and ringing ears. The wind got knocked out of him and his sword skidded across the gym floor. He was vaguely aware of the blunt pain of his front slamming against the bleachers, though his mind was fuzzy and he wasn’t sure what was going on. Shapes danced in front of Randy’s eyes when he opened them as he desperately tried to flip himself over so he could see his attacker.

Multiple crooked grins widened through the haze and now Randy was held at arm’s length by his neck. He tried kicking at the robot, but he was held too far out. “What… the juice… are you?!” He gasped, grasping at the cold hand which was clamped around his throat.

“I am Skulker, greatest hunter in the ghost zone.” Randy stopped struggling for a moment, but soon broke out in a fit of wheezing laughter despite the grip on his throat. Skulker’s free hand soon contained a small laser gun which was pointed at his chuckling prey. “What's so funny, whelp?”

“You say ghost like that's a real thing!” He wheezed, reaching up to wipe a tear from his eye. “Wow… That's hilarious.”

The slightly confounded glare Skulker gave him could melt ste. He was so focused on the laughing teens masked face that he didn't notice-

“Ninja electro ball!” The supposed ghost yelled out in pain as crackles of electricity covered his body. He ended up losing his grip on the ninja, who used the robot’s body as something to flip off of. He landed a few feet away from it, and while the robot was distracted Randy got to work.

After sliding over to his sword, Randy leapt and aimed for Skulker’s chest.

“Ninja stab! The steel core of the robot grinded against the shaft of the sword. Yes! The green life drained from his eyes as bits of circuit and spark pour out from his chest. Randy didn't notice the hatch on Skulker’s neck open up the small green blob that climbed out and disappeared from sight.

The ninja wiped his brow. Ghosts. That honking robot wanted him to believe he was a ghost. Pfft.

Pulling out his sword from the robot's chest, Randy seriously considered the possibility of there being ghosts in his school. It would explain the intangibility, and how they always disappeared from sight. But if Skulker was a ghost, how was he able to beat it? It should've gone untouchable while it had the chance. Although…

Randy groaned from thinking too hard and made a mental note toask the Nomicon later. He had to get to class before they resumed, anyways. After pulling a smokebomb out of his belt, he disappeared in a red cloud of smoke.


	2. Chapter 2

“Danny! Come help me get this equipment!” 

Danny groaned as Jazz called him over, unceremoniously dropping the box of random belongings in the trunk of the Fenton’s RV before marching over to his sister to help her lift the box of ectoguns she was trying to lift. He easily tapped into his ghostly strength, but was forever disappointed as he noticed his arms were still as scrawny as ever. Some things never change.

It was unholily early in the morning; the sky was still dark, the air heavy with cool humidity, and the streets were still illuminated with the yellow beams of the light posts. It would take the Fenton family until sunset to arrive in Norrisville, where they would then have to unpack and find a place to eat.

Needless to say, it was going to be a pretty long day.

After another half hour of finalizing their packing, the engine of the GAV roared to life and filled the vehicle with a persistent hum. 

“I still can't believe we’re doing this,” Danny complained as he strapped his seatbelt on (he was going to need it, his dad was driving). 

Jazz, whose legs were neatly crossed to support a worn down psychology textbook, didn't look up as she replied. “Personally, I'm excited. When will I ever get the chance to mentor an entirely new group of my peers again?” 

“Whatever you say, nerd.” Danny said, smirking, raising a frown out of Jazz.

* * *

 

Somewhere in between the fifth and sixth hour of their drive, Danny fell asleep. He wasn't sure how, considering he had earplugs in, blasting his favorite music at full volume, but it happened. 

Maybe it had something to do with the switch in drivers. His dad and his mom had polar opposite driving styles, and the gentle rumbling of the vehicle most likely lulled him to sleep. 

One would expect that a nap would make one feel better, but now Danny just felt like there were cotton balls stuffed in his skull. It was stuffy inside of the GAV, and the discomfort that the heat brought was likely what brought him out of his slumber. He slowly drifted back to consciousness, no matter how hard he tried to resist. Damn.

Danny’s joints cracked in rapid succession as he stretched, his eyes still closed. Tiny bits of reddish light filtered through his eyelids, which was what eventually tempted him to open them. 

Blurry. Ugh. Bright. Danny rubbed his eyes and looked out the window to his right.

He was immediately greeted by the dark silhouette of a tall mountain which, upon closer inspection, seemed to be billowing out smoke. There were no foothills, just a large dagger jutting out of the horizon. It was backlit by a dying sun that painted the sky orange. Danny moved his hand to shade his eyes from it. 

He took a deep breath in a feeble attempt to clear his still-blurry mind and leaned back into his seat. The one comfortable plushy seats had turned sticky with sweat and felt more like stone than leather after the long trip. Danny squirmed to ease the discomfort.

To the left of him, Jazz was starting to stir. Her hair was a mess, with random red strands sticking out here and there all around her heat. Bags were under her eyes, there was a tiny bit of drool that dripped down her chin. She quietly complained about something or other as she wiped it away with her sleeve.

“Are we there yet?” She grumbled while extending her arms in a stretch. The entire vehicle was bathed in orange light from the sunset.

Maddie kept her eyes on the road as she responded. Danny could see her smiling from where he sat. “It’s just ahead, honey. You can see it if you look.” Jack was still snoring in the seat next to her, mask on and teddy bear in hand.

The skyline of a small city loomed on the horizon visible from the windshield. There were several notable figures: a pyramid was the most noteworthy. Although smaller than a big city like Chicago, it was considerably larger than Amity Park.

“It should be only thirty more minutes or so, and then we’ll get dinner.” 

Jack began to stir at the mention of eating.

* * *

Of course there had to be a monster flying around the city on the last free night he had off this weekend. Of course.

The evening had started out as an uneventful one. Howard had come over and ordered a pizza, and they were playing Grave Puncher as usual. Fun? Yes. Unordinary? No.

By Randy’s window, which was open to let the early spring breeze in, a radio sprung to life with a frantic reporter announcing an attack in the downtown area. He had bought it about a month ago after realizing that he had no way to know about a threat if he wasn't in the city on the weekends, and this was one of the first times it had gone off.

The voice was unclear whether it was a robot or a monster, but considering it was the weekend and nobody was in range of the Sorcerer, Randy guessed it was a robot. It didn't matter, he’d kick it’s butt either way.

Howard, who had his back up against Randy’s bed, groaned and threw his controller on the ground. 

Randy cut him off before he was able to make a snide comment about how responsibilities were ‘such a buzzkill’ or something. “Just go home, Howard.” He sighed as he got up and began ruffling through his bags to find the mask. “I mean, I probably won't be back before your curfew.” 

“Whatever.”

After looking in one of the back pockets of his backpack and pulling the mask out with a triumphant humph, he slipped it on before leaping out of the open window.

As the Ninja swung his way downtown, he didn't notice any immediate destruction. The optimistic part of him wanted to believe that maybe it was a false alarm, or a  _ friendly _ robot. That would be nice. But alas, it was not to be.

Randy chose a suitable rooftop to observe from (and also catch his breath), before he would inevitably make a dramatic entrance.

The scene that he arrived to wasn't typical, though recently, nothing about his duties had been ‘typical’ to begin with. It had appeared that there had already been a fight, silhouettes imprinted into the asphalt in front of Greg’s Game Hole. It was already starting to get dark, and the streetlights were beginning to turn on, well, the ones that weren't snapped in half and spewing sparks. Other than that, scorch marks lined the street where they had apparently fought. 

The time for dramatic entrances had come _ ,  _ the Ninja made himself known on the scene with a flash of bright red smoke. Randy got to work fairly quickly, examining the damage and looking for clues on where the fight had taken the culprits.

Randy picked up a fragment of scalding brick and tapped into his improved senses to sniff it, the scent was that of burning hair and electricity. He would've dropped it out of disgust and somewhat annoyance, but it was knocked out of his hand as a hot force blew him into the window of the Game Hole. 

A boot forced Randy down with crushing power on his back, stopping him from getting up. A strong hand grabbed at the back of his mask, almost ripping it off before he had the chance to grab it and force it back down. 

“You must be new to this.” A voice, oddly echoey but full of the smugness of a teenage boy, sounded. “When’d it happen, a few weeks ago I’m guessing?” 

Randy squirmed as a futile attempt to try and see his captor. “What are you even talking about?!” 

The boy muttered something under his breath and then loosened his hold on him. “You're dead.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. How do I say this?” He exhaled loudly and switched hands holding Randy to the ground. “You're a ghost. Your soul bonded to ectoplasm, and- ugh, I'm not even sure how it works but, basically, you're dead.” Randy stopped squirming under the other’s grip, which seemed to work in his favor. 

The hand released his head, but his foot was still forcing him on the floor. The kid on top of him seemed to be ruffling around himself, looking for something, and wasn't focused as much on the Ninja as he needed to be. Randy started inching a shaky away from his face and towards where he had his tools hidden. “Oh, crud. Where's the thermos?” 

Just a little closer… 

An explosion of smoke provided the perfect distraction, causing the teen to let go of Randy and allow him to make a run for it. He fled with the biggest steps he could imagine, adrenaline pumping, squinting and trying to find a hiding spot. It was getting too dark to see, even with enhanced senses, and many of the streetlights were knocked out from whatever fight had gone on earlier. 

Hard panic knotted in Randy’s chest, making it hard to breathe even though he was running. With every step he made, he thought he would trip. This enemy, whatever he was, shouldn't be messed with if he could take and keep him down in such a short time. If only he could find a spot to take the mask off…

“Hey! Get back here!” Oh juice. Oh juice oh juice oh juice. Randy risked taking a look back at the thing that has attacked him, getting a good look at him for the first time. 

He was a glowing teenager with toxically green eyes and white hair who just happened to be flying. And he was getting closer,  _ fast.  _

Randy yelped and dove away right before he would've been barreled into. He couldn't outspeed whatever that kid was, he was going to have to fight. 

The kid stopped soon after flying past him, and was now making his way back. Randy noticed that he was holding something akin to a thermos. 

A trio of green blasts was sent his way, which Randy expertly dodged with a series of very necessary backflips. They were in the middle of the street now, which gave him plenty of space to be extravagant in his maneuvers.

“A ninja? Seriously?” His opponent snarked, pushing a strand of white hair out of his face. “Out of all the things you could be obsessed with, you had to choose ninjas.” Randy chose to ignore this.

The fighting style of the kid was noticeably similar to that of the new monsters Randy had to deal with. He was different, though, being incredibly humanoid in comparison to the green animals (and that robot thing he had fought not too long ago). Even so, it all lined up: the green blasts, the glowiness, the flight. Noting this, Randy decided he wouldn't be able to use his sword or any physical attacks. 

While the kid was preparing his next attack, Randy searched his brain for anything that would work against him. Problem was, he hadn't been able to defeat any of the new monsters- wait, hadn't he kid mentioned ghosts, too? Randy cursed himself for forgetting to ask the Nomicon. 

Bounding out of the way of another assault, Randy had no choice but to accept the fact: he was fighting against ghosts. He couldn't question it now though, and he couldn't run away as it was. 

Randy snatched something out of his suit and hurled it at his opponent. “Ninja Ice Ball!” It went right through him and impacted on a building, covering the bricks and windows with thick frost. 

Randy tried several more balls, all to no avail. 

Suddenly, the kid’s attack style changed after Randy had successfully deflected, avoided, or reflected all of his attacks. Now, it was time for close combat.

The ethereal teen rushed at him with incredible speed, but Randy was faster. He instinctively drew his sword and successfully parried the oncoming blow. His opponent recoiled with a shocked expression plastered on his face, revealing a glowing green cut where Randy’s blade had met his body. That worked?

With confidence, he immediately leapt at his opponent with his sword turned outward in a stabbing fashion. But when he was about to finish him, a transparent force halted his blade. Randy tried yanking it out from whatever was holding it, but looked up to find himself staring down the barrel of what looked like-  _ a thermos?  _ It whirred with an eerie blue light. He braced himself.

“Don't move.”


End file.
